Sailboat Racing Information
What the race Course Looks Like
The same race course is used almost every week during the season. Two yellow markers create the start/finish gate and the committee boat lines up in position along side one of them to monitor the race, make sure no boats cross the start line early, and to score boats as they cross the finish line.
The sailors begin the race by sailing upwind between the start finish gate as they head towards Mark 1. They must not cross the start/finish gate until the start signal, so you will see them hovering downwind of the gate as the starting sequence progresses. They then complete their first lap by rounding Mark 2 and Mark 3.
The second lap begins by heading towards Mark 1, but the sailors are not required to navigate through the start/finish gate on this lap. After rounding Mark 2 and Mark 3 the Sailors have completed their final lap and head towards the start/finish gate to be scored.
RACING STARTS: WHAT DO THE HORN BLASTS AND FLAGS MEAN?
The moments leading up to the start of a sailboat race are chaotic at best, but there is a method to the chaos. All those boats are trying to cross the start/finish line at the exact same moment that the starting flag is raised and the horn is sounded. Crossing early results in a penalty, crossing too late means you may have too much ground to make up. Here is what is actually going on:
We have two groups (Classes) racing at a time. While the Racing Class is preparing to start, the Social Class is off the side trying to give the others room to begin. The first long horn blast signals the Start Sequence. For the Racing Class that means they have three and a half minutes until the start horn blasts and they can legally cross the start line. For the Social Class, they have six and a half minutes.
Throughout the Starting Sequence the Sailors are assisted by a variety audio and visual signals to help them time their starts. There are also a variety of rules regulating which direction you can start from and which boats have the right-of way in a variety of situations. Bottom line, Sailors try to work together to manage the chaos. Sometimes that works…
| TIMER | DESCRIPTION | SIGNAL | ACTION |
| 6:30 | START SEQUENCE ALERT | FIVE SHORT HORN BLASTS | |
| 6:00 | THREE MINUTE WARNING RACING CLASS | THREE SHORT HORN BLASTS | |
| 5:00 | TWO MINUTE WARNING RACING CLASS | TWO SHORT HORN BLASTS | WHITE FLAG RAISED (RACING CLASS) BLUE FLAG RAISED (PREPATORY FLAG) |
| 4:00 | ONE MINUTE WARNING RACING CLASS | ONE SHORT HORN BLAST | |
| 3:30 | 30 SECOND WARNING RACING CLASS | VERBAL: 30 SECONDS | BLUE FLAG DROPPED |
| 3:10 | 10 SECOND WARNING RACING CLASS | VERBAL: 10 SECOND COUNTDOWN | |
| 3:00 | START – RACING CLASS THREE MINUTE WARNING SOCIAL CLASS | ONE LONG HORN BLAST | WHITE FLAG DROPPED (RACING CLASS START) RED FLAG RAISED (SOCIAL CLASS) BLUE FLAG RAISED (PREPATORY FLAG) |
| 2:00 | TWO MINUTE WARNING SOCIAL CLASS | TWO SHORT HORN BLASTS | |
| 1:00 | ONE MINUTE WARNING SOCIAL CLASS | ONE SHORT HORN BLAST | BLUE FLAG DROPPED |
| :30 | 30 SECOND WARNING SOCIAL CLASS | VERBAL: 30 SECONDS | |
| :10 | 10 SECOND WARNING SOCIAL CLASS | VERBAL: 10 SECOND COUNTDOWN | |
| :00 | START – SOCIAL CLASS | ONE LONG HORN BLAST | RED FLAG DROPPED (SOCIAL CLASS START) |
ABBREVIATED RACING RULES “COURTESIES”
There is a standardized set of rules that regulate sailboat races. These regulations can be very detailed and technical. In total there are 91 rules (since the major simplification in 1997) but only 15 rules govern what boats do when they meet on the water. In an effort to keep our races social and fun, we would like simplify it even more and establish a few “Courtesies” that we ask to be followed:
ON OPPOSITE TACKS
Boats on a port tack shall keep clear of boats on starboard tack. This basically means you have right-of-way when your sail is on the left side of the boat as you face forward.
ON THE SAME TACK, OVERLAPPED
When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, the boat to windward (the boat closest to the wind) shall keep clear of a leeward boat. Simplified, the boat downwind has the right-of-way.
ON THE SAME TACK, NOT OVERLAPPED
When a boat is on the same tack and not overlapped, the boat ahead of you must be given room to maneuver.
CHANGING COURSE
When a right-of way boat changes course, they shall give the other boat room to keep clear.
BUOY ROOM
If you are approaching a buoy marker (preparing to turn), you must give buoy room to other boats on the same tack if their bow (front) has an overlap with your stern (rear). In other words, you cannot crowd them out. You must give them room to make the turn. You must also give them room to exit the turn and sail to the next mark.
PENALTIES THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF:
It is not uncommon to have minor bumps with another boat although we try hard to avoid that. If you are the cause of a flagrant bump or collision, the penalty would be to do a 360-degree turn.
Making contact with a course buoy is not allowed. If contact is made, the boat is required to make one 360-degree turn. If the contact was caused by someone else not giving you buoy room, it would be the other boat’s fault and they would do the turn.
Many of our members are new to sailing and are out there to have fun. While we know that most will not have a technical knowledge of the rules, we do ask that everyone work towards having a basic understanding of these concepts to ensure everyone can have fun.